An Expat in Zagreb
By Roger Malone
Everyone's talking about gay tourism in Croatia now. Indeed, in an article in today's Jutranji list, I suggested it was ridiculous to put gay tourism dollars and, perhaps, Croatia's future at risk for what amounts to a meaningless change in the national constitution.
To which someone on Facebook told me:
"This is funny! Right. The gays are the future! I agree, no gays, no fun clubs. We will die and perish without dancing gays!"
At first, of course, I was stunned. Some of my gay friends are pretty boring, so the idea that all her gay friends are all-night partiers was astonishing. I felt left out.
Then I started wondering what gay tourism is really worth to Croatia. The number would be relevant to a country that relies on tourism for about a fifth of its GDP. In an earlier blog, I wrote the figure could be about a billion euros. That estimate was a quick back-of-the-envelop calculation.
So, let's look at the numbers. The Gay European Tourism Association (GETA) in a 2012 report estimated that openly gay Europeans spend about 50 billion euro a year on travel in Europe. In essence, the group said it arrived at this figure from data on overall population, the openly gay population and travel figures from the European Commission. Any number from a special interest group tends to be on the high side, but GETA's estimate is the best that I've found.
Meanwhile, a report from the UN's World Tourism Organization shows that Croatia's tourism receipts were about 8.8 billion euros in 2012, about 2 percent of 458 billion euros for all of Europe. (I'm using UN figures for consistent data across countries.) Assuming gays follow the same travel pattern as anyone else, 2 percent of 50 billion euros is 1 billion euro, which would be Croatia's share of the gay travel money.
The GETA report also puts gay tourism in Europe at about 8 percent of the total market. This is higher than the proportion of openly gay individuals in Europe, the group says, because gays generally don't have children or the expenses associated with child rearing and therefore have more disposable income. Eight percent of Croatia's tourism revenues, based on the UN figures, would be about 700 million euros.
This puts European gay tourism in Croatia between 700 million and 1 billion euros. Even assuming GETA numbers are on the high side, it's probably safe to assume gay tourism accounts for at least 500 million euros a year in Croatia. More millions are spent here by gays from outside Europe, families and friends of gays and closet gays, which aren't captured in GETA's figures.
That's what was risked by passing the marriage referendum: gays booking hotel rooms and holiday houses, eating scampi and pizza, renting cars, scooters, boats and bikes and, yes, dancing and drinking in clubs.
The Tourism Ministry is now trying to keep gays coming to Croatia. "I invite all, like up until now, and even more to come. As Minister of Tourism, I guarantee them a good time in Croatia," the minister said. (As an aside, I wish someone could guarantee me a good time when I travel.)
In essence, the ministry is saying: Dear gay community, please ignore that awkward vote we just had. You weren't supposed to notice. We asked, and about one in three people here will probably be friendly to you. So, please come and spend, spend, spend.
I really hope my Facebook correspondent is right, and gays give Croatia a break. They would be showing the country much more spiritual generously than they've been given.
[Follow Roger Malone on twitter at @ExpatinZagreb or at www.expatinzagreb.blogspot.com]
By Roger Malone
Everyone's talking about gay tourism in Croatia now. Indeed, in an article in today's Jutranji list, I suggested it was ridiculous to put gay tourism dollars and, perhaps, Croatia's future at risk for what amounts to a meaningless change in the national constitution.
To which someone on Facebook told me:
"This is funny! Right. The gays are the future! I agree, no gays, no fun clubs. We will die and perish without dancing gays!"
At first, of course, I was stunned. Some of my gay friends are pretty boring, so the idea that all her gay friends are all-night partiers was astonishing. I felt left out.
Then I started wondering what gay tourism is really worth to Croatia. The number would be relevant to a country that relies on tourism for about a fifth of its GDP. In an earlier blog, I wrote the figure could be about a billion euros. That estimate was a quick back-of-the-envelop calculation.
So, let's look at the numbers. The Gay European Tourism Association (GETA) in a 2012 report estimated that openly gay Europeans spend about 50 billion euro a year on travel in Europe. In essence, the group said it arrived at this figure from data on overall population, the openly gay population and travel figures from the European Commission. Any number from a special interest group tends to be on the high side, but GETA's estimate is the best that I've found.
Meanwhile, a report from the UN's World Tourism Organization shows that Croatia's tourism receipts were about 8.8 billion euros in 2012, about 2 percent of 458 billion euros for all of Europe. (I'm using UN figures for consistent data across countries.) Assuming gays follow the same travel pattern as anyone else, 2 percent of 50 billion euros is 1 billion euro, which would be Croatia's share of the gay travel money.
The GETA report also puts gay tourism in Europe at about 8 percent of the total market. This is higher than the proportion of openly gay individuals in Europe, the group says, because gays generally don't have children or the expenses associated with child rearing and therefore have more disposable income. Eight percent of Croatia's tourism revenues, based on the UN figures, would be about 700 million euros.
This puts European gay tourism in Croatia between 700 million and 1 billion euros. Even assuming GETA numbers are on the high side, it's probably safe to assume gay tourism accounts for at least 500 million euros a year in Croatia. More millions are spent here by gays from outside Europe, families and friends of gays and closet gays, which aren't captured in GETA's figures.
That's what was risked by passing the marriage referendum: gays booking hotel rooms and holiday houses, eating scampi and pizza, renting cars, scooters, boats and bikes and, yes, dancing and drinking in clubs.
The Tourism Ministry is now trying to keep gays coming to Croatia. "I invite all, like up until now, and even more to come. As Minister of Tourism, I guarantee them a good time in Croatia," the minister said. (As an aside, I wish someone could guarantee me a good time when I travel.)
In essence, the ministry is saying: Dear gay community, please ignore that awkward vote we just had. You weren't supposed to notice. We asked, and about one in three people here will probably be friendly to you. So, please come and spend, spend, spend.
I really hope my Facebook correspondent is right, and gays give Croatia a break. They would be showing the country much more spiritual generously than they've been given.
[Follow Roger Malone on twitter at @ExpatinZagreb or at www.expatinzagreb.blogspot.com]
I know I'm resurrecting here, but one in three' cmon, let's look at the real numbers. 18% of people of the voting age voted in favor of that unfortunate change of the constitution. 9% voted against. the others simply didn't care. Somehow, they believe there are more important questions, like putting the bread on the table.
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